Sympathy for the devil Remix
by Chaz01
Summary: Demons are not born, they are made. They are created by their own choices and ideas. Indeed even Satan had to make the choose to fall or remain. This is the story of how one such man came to make that choice. Game over, Please R and R
1. Default Chapter

Sympathy for the devil  
  
intro : This is a story focusing on the villain, Raidou. I am kinda winging this, though I got the basics right if I screw up on some details, let me know. This will be graphic and harsh, but some of the greatest movies have been extream, like clockwork orange... Here we go  
  
disclaimer : don't own, not mine   
  
rating: R  
  
( 16 year before the 1st doa tournament)  
  
" What are u staring at?"   
  
The sounds that formed ideas that were given forms came from one of three people. These people all wore the same outfit. Indeed the only distinguishing factor were the colors of the belts they wore around their waist, which seemed to indicate rank. Other then that they had the appearance of a traditional ninja, each clad entirely in black with various acent and modern weapons protruding from their backs. They alone seemed to merge both the ideals of the west and east and obtain a perfect balance, a deadly balance. The only exposed feature the indicated that they were human were the slint in their hoods, from whose darkness emerged eyes. These eyes were ablise with life and hate. No, it was much more then hate, it was loathing, pure and unrelenting loathing. There voice rang out harsh and cruel and seemed out of place.  
  
The one to whom they addressed there question looked about 23 years of age. He, unlike his interrogators, wore a more modern outfit, which consisted of jeans and a black shirt. He stood gazing into an empty and bleak horizon, with a storm ranging and a blood red sun just setting. The scene seemed to flawlessly reflect the man's heart. He stood unwavering, by both the elements and his apparent pursuers. It was his eyes that stood out the most though, for they were not the eyes of a man. The eyes seemed more akin to the storm or, rather, the destruction it was causing. His eyes had a purity, a quality that few ever possessed, but unlike the eyes of Christ or Buddha, his was a purity of a different kind. His were pure destruction. He seemed the embodiment of the storm, as if it's essence had been captured and given form.  
  
" The nature of god and man" He said, his voice far to cool to be produced by any other man. His eyes had been and would continued to be fixed on a spot in the oblivion that was unfolding in front of him. His voice seemed like thunder, like he was merely a mindless part of the greater destruction consuming the bleak sky overhead. The three would be pursuers didn't speak, so the man continued " You are looking upon the only true element of the universe, the only unrelenting fact, the only relevant point. You are viewing the nature of god and man, the nature of power. You would say it, or more aptly put it's destructive tendency, is evil caused by an unhappy Kai, I tell you, it is all that truly is. It is the hand writing of god, it is the purest thing in the universe, it is the beginning and end. Power, it is the only thing that really matters or existed."  
  
Of the pursuers, two of them stirred uncomfortable, as if trying to block out the sound with movement. The third one stood his ground, eyes unwavering and the embers of loathing still blazing strong. It was he only who dared to speak in defiance of the storm. " You know why we have come, Raidou...."  
  
" Why, because I raped that bitch?" HE said this with a calais indifference, there was no passion or hate or any other emotion. It, to him, was a fact of life, as the storm was a fact of nature. Now even the third one's eyes changed, the fire within them blazed up and his muscles all became tense.   
  
" How dare you. She is one of the most kind hearted people. You had no right...." He said this with an inner resolve and though he spoke softly, the words carried their own strength.  
  
" I had ever right. There is only one determination of right, power. I had the strength, therefor I had the right."   
  
" No, there is a higher principle..."  
  
" Which is clung to by the week of mind and the faint of heart. Good, evil, merely two human constructs, two ideals invented by old fools to ensure no one would ever usurp their power. What you call morals I call slavery. Put I, unlike you, have the strength to overcome such childish ideals .Perhaps she has learned something, that foolish woman. Ayame" This last word was the only one the had an hint of emotion in it, and it was an emotion of utter hatred. It rivaled the hate that the three pursuers had for him. It dripped with spite and malice.  
  
" I was told to bring you back alive, so that the elders could judge you. I will kill you with my own hands, nothing as evil as you should ever exist!!!" He screamed this. He seemed to be yelling it into the storm itself, going against the will of the universe. The other two got into place behind him.  
  
" You are committing suicide" Raidou said, simply.   
  
" Enough talk" Said the first of the assailants, as he ran forwards. Of the other two, one ran behind him, both drawing their swords. The other one ran around Raidou, heading for his opposite side. They all threw in flips and other tricks to try and disorientate and confuse their opponent, but this was in vain, he knew all their tricks. The first one threw his fist and made contact. A look of joy came over him, as if he had vanquished a great demon. Raidou's body flew back into the fighter on the other side, who kicked it. It landed with a thud.  
  
  
  
Then, much to the three surprise, a sound could be heard. It was a chuckle, a horse and low laugh and it came from their seemingly vanquished foe. He pushed up off the ground in no particular rush, his opponents looking on in horror. This was short lived as the leader of the three charged in for a second attack. His fists and feat making contact with the body of his enemy, yet instead of pain or any other kind of emotion, only an inner darkness grew. Then Raidou rased his foot, and with the same annoyed look that a boy swats a fly, he hit his adversary sending him flying.   
  
It was at this point, that Raidou unsheathed his enemy's sword and charged at the other two. They were both not expecting this. The sword found it's way deep into the chest of one, who let out a cry of pain, and then feel silent, forever. The other one reacted quickly, instinctive unsheathed his own weapon, but this was in vain, for Raidou's fist found his neck and delivered an instantly fatal blow. Both bodies lay there lifeless, as their leader looked on, horrified. This look of terror only grew as Raidou withdrew the sword from one of the bodies. The sword, coming out of the body, seemed to protest, and made a noise that voiced this. The indifference he did this with was almost inhuman.  
  
Raidou then made his way towards the final opponent. The bloody sword clutched in his fist. He reached his opponent, who, at the last second found a newly kindled resolve. He would die with his honor. The sword found it's way into this last persons heat, blood squirting and smearing his enemy's check, as if a final act of defiance. These took the form of tears on Raidou's check. As he lapsed in and out of death, the spirits came upon him and said " You, great fighter, strongest of all, will be the first whom will fall. During a new time, one who is more sublime will punish you for these sins. You will fall to a woman who is the opposite of what you have become, the embodiment of what you once were. You will die as I am now, bleeding and alone."  
  
To this prophecy Raidou's only response was laughter, uncontrollable laughter.... 


	2. 2

Disclaimer: don't own, not mine  
  
rated: R  
  
( 6 months before ch.1 )  
  
He walked slowly back into the world that he had left. IT was like either waking from a dream or becoming reimmersed in it, though which one was true he couldn't be sure. His small town, which up to about a year ago had been his world, now seemed primitive and uncivilized. He had arrived at night so he had only to speak with the watchmen. He then took his leave and headed for his home which seemed to him smaller and less meaningful. He had not changed yet and even though he swore that he had simply forgot, it was because he did not want to change. He did not want to go back to the simple life he had left behind. He had seen things that not even the gods he worshiped could claim dominion over, and then was told they were built by man, and he wanted more then anything to own these things for himself.  
  
His eyes, which looked tired from his journey but at the same time had a certain excitedness to them, glanced around his, or more aptly put their, communal home. It was a very small village, consisting of a Shinto temple, two sleeping/ eating places, where all the families lived and a small building whose sole function was to give the elders a place to convene. Even in this darkest of nights, he walked with no fear, for he knew this place as if it was a part of him. Indeed the place seemed an inseparable part of his being, it had always been there, looming pleasantly in the background, and would continue to be, forever, or so he had thought. The buildings, which were done in classic Japanese style seemed more at one with nature, as opposed to conquering it. There presence, unlike many western structures, seemed to be welcome and appeared to be merely and extension of nature, not an opponent to it. The entire village was incased within a small wall, which was there mostly as a reminder of the outside were being kept out. He walked slowly through the court yard, heading towards his family's portion of the home.   
  
The night carried with it the sweet smell of flowers in bloom, yet it also carried a hint of wetness, as if a storm would soon arrive. He found the smell sickening, preferring the odors he had found in the rest of the worlds villages, or cities as they called their homes. It wasn't that these smells were pleasing to him, it was merely the fact that they were new. He had never experienced such odors and they had been wonderful.   
  
He opened the papaerish door to his house, and for the first time felt a hint of fear. In the place he had been the doors had been as thick as trees and had devices on them, what was it they called those mechanisms, locks on them. The door, like everything else in his town seemed flimsy and weak. He did not want his way of life to be swept away, and these structures now appeared to him as though a gentle breeze could destroy it. He wanted something permeant, something he could look upon and say that it would always be there. Something to serve as a tribute to man. He looked in at the sleeping masses, all laying next to each other, all in the most serine state possible and even this bothered him. In the 'other' land, for this was the title the elders had given the outer world, he had his own bed. He found his brother, fast asleep with the rest of them, and settled into his old spot. It took sweet sleep forever to wash upon him, and when it did he dreamed sweetly of the amazing works of the other world.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
" Raidou, my dear brother, you must wake now, the elders are conveying in counsel and wish to speak with you." This voice Raidou would recognize anywhere, it was his brother Shiden. It was not hard to tell that they were brothers, they both looked very much alike, though there was an ever widening gulf between their hearts They seemed to live in different world's each of them having their own values. Raidou had always been concerned with finding truth, with understanding everything, whereas his brother seemed content to simple exist. Perhaps it was because they seemed to have differing luck, for instance the woman, the only woman, that Raidou had ever claimed to love was married to his brother...  
  
" Yes, of corse my brother" Raidou said, rising to his feet. He still had on his 'other' world cloths on and this only seemed to add to the distance between them. The hut was, for the most part, devoid of life. It was customary for everyone to wake at 5: 30 and begin a new day. He had been allowed to sleep though, considering his journey.  
  
They walked out together into the harsh light, from which Raidou had to shield his eyes. As they stepped out the heard the cry of a baby. They both looked over to see Ayame holding her child. A smile immediately came to her face upon seeing Raidou and they embraced each other warmly, the child stirring from in between their embrace. She stepped back and her eyes seemed to say ' let me have a look at you.' HE had almost forgotten how beautiful she was from his year of traveling, almost. They stood that way for serval seconds, each just taking in the other, each with a fondness for the other. All three of them had been best friends growing up and had carried that friendship over into adulthood.   
  
" It is nice to all be united again." Shiden spoke the words that were in all three of their hearts.   
  
" We both missed you terrible, you big baka" Ayame said, with a nostalgic smile on her lips, yet the sad look in her eyes that nostalgia always carries with it. " How was your journy."  
  
" It was..." Raidou began.  
  
  
  
" We must go the elders are not to be kept waiting. Ayame, my dear wife, we will be back soon and discuss everything our dear lost friend had gone through..." He embraced her warmly and they offered their lips to each other, something that Raidou would never know... " I love you"  
  
" I know" She whispered, still trembling from the sheer power that those words seemed to convey.   
  
They arrived at the front of the elders building, a small crowed gathered, as was ture whenever the elder meet, to see what the news would be. There were 2 guards at the door, each of them hiding their faces behind their masks, but this was to no avail, for their eyes gave them away. The Brothers made their way up to the guards and Shiden, who was always more friendly and more down to earth, said " Hello, Shinji, has the meeting begun?"  
  
" They were waiting for your arrival" He replied, stoicly.  
  
They entered the cabin which was, as always, a hive of activity. The masters,. as always, were yelling at each other, each of them trying to make their own ideals heard. They all fell silent when they laid eyes on Raidou, who still wore his ' other'; world dress.   
  
" Raidou, son of Kaila, child of the Mugen Tenshin style and our dear brother, we bid you a found welcome back into our world." This came from the leader of council, the most wise person of the clan. He was very young for his position, being only 68, but he was considered to be the wisest ruler since the founder. " Come, my dear child, speak of your journey and spare us no detail."  
  
Raidou's eyes seemed to light up at this prospect. This was the moment he had been waiting for since he started back. This was his time to shine brighter then all the other stars in heaven. " As you have spoken, so shall it be done, dearest master. I began my journey 1 year ago today, and have seen and heard things that you would not believe, but they are real, my dear brothers and sister, I swear on my father's grave they all. The 'other' worlders possess a magic that I have never seen nor heard the likes of. It is a magic that allows them to preform impossible feats and unreal wonders. They call this new type of magic science. This science has set them on a field equal to god" A mummer of disapproval from the audience, this was borderline blasphemy. " Please, I beg you to hear me out first. They have huge structures that they dub sky scrapers, which touch the heavens."  
  
" What is the purpose of these? To speak with their gods no doubt..." This was from the old priest.  
  
" No, they killed their god..."A loud mummer of disapproveal and some whispers between the elders. " A man named Nitzchie did it..."  
  
  
  
" And this Nitzchie, is he hated for it?" Asked another elder.  
  
" They never discuss him, except in certain places."  
  
" You see, they are ashamed of what he has done." The priest said, triumphantly.  
  
" In any case he gave them this new way of life. I tell you it is amazing. Like when they want water, they need merely to turn a knob and it flows, as if from a river. They have captured lightening and forced it into glass spheres they call light bulbs. IT is incredible."  
  
" Surly not, no man can capture lightening...." Spoke the oldest elder of the group.   
  
" They have, and oh my brother and sisters, they have a made us such a wonderful offer. I met with a man, though he might as well have been a god, from a huge tribe called DOA tech. Apparently after Nitzichie killed their god their world was tossed into chaos." Raidou glanced over at the priest, who now had a very strong smirk on his face. " The man said they need people of our skill and discipline to ensure that order is kept. They are plaining on destroying a rival clan and restoring order. They have things called Nano Tech which is the most powerful of all their spells, and they would give them to us, if only we would help to restore the order, and place our god on top of their god's dead body."  
  
" And what would stop them from killing our god?" This was spoken by the leader of the council. " Why should we trust outsiders? What reason have they for us, if they have such potent spells?"  
  
" Master, they need the order that..."  
  
" They lost god when they acquired their new magic. This science sounds to me to be nothing but trouble, this Nitziche had forsaken god for it. Nothing is worth that..."   
  
" But the power they have, the power we could have, think about it, master, if we don't join with them, then what is to stop them from destroying us." Raidou asked, his voice trembling. Things were not going the way he had envisioned, not at all.   
  
" Then we will die as our Ki commands us to. Power is the real illusion."  
  
" You would sooner die then change?!?" There was clearly anger in Raidou's voice now.  
  
" I will yield to god and her alone" spoke the elder, simply.  
  
" I will make you understand," Raidou said under his breath as he stormed out of the hut.... 


	3. 3

Rated: R  
  
disclaimer: don't own, not mine...  
  
( 2 year, 1 months and 2 days before ch. 1)  
  
Notes: Yo, a few things, first it is nice to know that some people r reading this... I really appreciate comments and would ask people to keep um coming... I will try to explain the whole reason why the clan hasn't had any contact with the outside for a long time, cause ur right, it doesn't make much sense as it stands... That will come either in this or the next... other than that, sit back and enjoy the ride...  
  
The cave was dark. So dark in fact that it seemed as though no light had ever penetrated it's walls of stone. It seemed cold and empty, to dark and lifeless for any creature to call it home. Any creature but one that is.   
  
His name had long been forgotten, lost in the ebb and flow of time, leaving only his legacy to stand. Yet even this would be wiped out by the flow of time, eventually nothing would remain of this man, not even a memory, and he knew this well. He had lived in this cave for longer then anyone could seem to remember. He had the 'gift' but it was more apt to call it a curse. He could see things, horrible and dreadful things before they ever happened and try as he might he could not change those things. Some said that he was forced out of the village, for scaring it's people with what they called 'evil talk' only to find he was right. Others claimed he had left because knowing the future and knowing one can't change it is maddening, and he left in the hope that his visions might cease. In any case the 'sight' never left him and so he sat in his home, alone said for a small girl who also seemed to have the 'gift.'  
  
Few people ever visited him or saw him, for it was said that his prophecy was absolute. There was a story of a man who saw him and was told he would die drowning, so the man stayed away from water. He took ever precaution imaginable and , in the end, didn't even leave his hut for anything. The man, so say the people, lived like this for years and then, one night, in a storm, his roof fell and he was washed away in the flood and drowned. In the end, the future was often better left unknown, for the point to life was living it, not the outcome of it. For the outcome was always the same, death. Yet there were still souls who were brave or foolish enough to seek this sacred gnosis and they almost always paid dearly for it. The man who drowned was dead anyways, but if he hadn't known his fate, he may have enjoyed his years, instead of hiding from truth in his hut.. Regardless one such soul had just ventured into this forsaken cave of absolutes, in an otherwise realm of shadows.  
  
The girl meet him in at the mouth of the cave, with a cold glance. He felt more like he was being dissected then welcomed. After a long pause the girl said to him " Raidou, son of Raidu, master of the fists and warrior of the clan, you have come to seek my master. I warn you now, don't not ask unless you intend to find and do not seek unless you wish to receive. The words that my master will speak to you is unchanging as the flow of the universe. It was ordained by the hand that crafted all you see before you. The words you cannot be changed by a mere man. To know your future is to ruin your present and make meaningless your past. Do you understand?"  
  
" Yes..." was his single answer, though he really had no idea what he was about to do.  
  
" You have fasted and cleansed yourself in the sacred water?" Asked the child, with the same callas indifference.  
  
" Yes" answered Raidou, stoicly.  
  
" Once you enter this cave, there will be no turning back. It is your own destiny that you hold in your hand now, if you proceed, you will no longer have this illusion. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes" He answered for a third time.  
  
" Then come" The girl said, leading Raidou into the cave.  
  
The two made there way back through the cave, Raidou completely blind because of the lack of the light. The girl seemed to either be guided by some unseen force or else had walked this path so many times her very heart knew it now. As they walked, Raidou found the passage getting smaller and smaller and found himself have to push his way into the cave more and more. Then, as if appearing out of know where, there was a brilliant light. This light, at first encompassed everything and only it's screening beauty was left. It was like being lost in a sea of light. Then his eyes slowly adjusted to this light and he was born into a new room.   
  
The room was small and seemed to Raidou to be cramped. In the center of the room a large fire was burning. It's smoke formed strange patterns, only to be swept away by the wind of fate into crakes in the cave wall. The man, or so thought Raidou, though it was really impossible to tell, sat crossed legged and stared into the fire. His sight would not falter from this fire and, even during the most horrible prophecies, he was said to maintain this aloofness. The room was empty, said for these two items. The girl, who had served as his guide, bowed low and then left them to themselfs.  
  
After several seconds, Raidou could no longer stand the silence. It seemed that this cave, tat this emptiness was as much a part of him as he was a part of it. It seemed that the cave was within him, not outside him. He felt the need to fill this void with something, so he would fill it with words. " I am Raidou, I have come to know what fates has ordained for me." He said, in the most powerful voice he could manage. The old man didn't seem phased and, if he had even noticed Raidou speaking, he didn't pay it any mind.  
  
" Why have you come?" Came the answer from an old and seemingly crusty voice. It didn't belong to man, it was far to real for that. It seemed to Raidou's ears that he was hearing the vice of a god.   
  
" The woman I love has married my brother. My father has died recently, and I feel cold and alone. I wish to know my fate. Will I ever hold the one who I love in my arms or else will destiny give me a new love? Will I find love? I wish to know my fate, so that I may prepare for it" He said, though he felt a tear roll down his check, this didn't effect the old man.  
  
" To plan for the future is as foolish is working to earn more then that which you need. Your folly of coming here will be rewarded with what you seek. That which you love you will possess, but it will be a loveless and cold embrace. You will have her by your force, not her choice. You will betray all you are for power and will even betray that. Your name will become hated by men and feared by women, and the ground you walk on will be forever cursed..."  
  
" No, surly your wrong... I have never, I would never do such horrible things as this... How can you say this to me, I have done nothing...Nothing !!!!" The first portion of this was spoken in a low and unsure tone. He didn't know what to say or do, but the last word was spoken out of defiance. It was said with spite and hate and dripped with both these poisons.   
  
The old man continued, seemingly unaffected. " You will kill tonight, and will find satisfaction in doing so. You will leave and find the that which is not of our world, and strike a deal with it. You will think yourself noble, but you will be sealing your doom."  
  
" Enough old man!!! Shut up!!! I no longer wish to hear your words!!!" Raidou screamed. He was now nearing hysterics.   
  
" Your child will be spurned by all who see her, and will be as hated and loathed as you are. Yet from this child, who was created from the most horrible of all sin, shall there be light and your hope. She will either finish the work you have started, and destroy your people's way of live, or she will save it and make straight their path and in doing so redeem you. This is your fate, and you will never be able to change it." The man said, stoicly.  
  
Raidou couldn't take it any more. He was no longer a rational being, for his mind had left him. He thought, in desperation, ' I am the only one who heard this dreadful thing, surly if I kill this so called seer, I will be free from such a horrible fate. I will simply silence him, and never think of this again. He can't control me!! I am free!!' At that he flung himself onto the old man and straggled him. The old man did not so much as look up at him, his sight still perpetually glued to his fire. As he felt this old man's life slipping away, as he felt him die, he felt empowered, and great. He came to, after the deed was done, and, looking upon this horrified, ran towards the exit.   
  
As he left the cave, the girl just stared at him, with the same stoic indifference that she had since they met. He couldn't look at her, he had to look away. The next day she went into the village and informed the elders that Raidou had been sent upon a quest by her master and that, threw him, the shinobi way of life was to be born anew. This brought the elders great joy, for they didn't see that death was necessary before resurrection. They asked her where the quest had taken Raidou and she said, simply, another world... 


	4. 4

Disclaimer: don't own, not mine  
  
rating: R  
  
Authors notes: Well, I guess this will be ch. 4... I said that I would put something about the shinoni withdrawal from the outside world, but that will be the next ch, I think...I used mostly western traditions here, I have never been to nor read about a Shinto wedding, so this will not be as acuate as I would like, I am sorry.... In any case I am 18 and I have been writing since I was like 14, but I only got into prose like 2 years ago, so there is a bit of a bio for u ( though I don't see y it matters, but well :).... In any case thanks for the reviews, they means a great deal, please keep um coming :) and thanks... well, here we go....  
  
( 2 year 9 months 0 days before ch.1 or 2 days before ch.3)  
  
  
  
( the last journal entry in Raidou's journal...)  
  
Dear journal,  
  
Today is the big day and I still have no idea what to do. I should be happy for them, right? He is my brother and she couldn't be getting a better husband. I get the honor of seeing my little brother married to the most perfect woman I have ever met and I get the honor of caller her sister. That should be enough for me shouldn't it?  
  
I can't help it. I am not the one who woke up and decided that, since I was five years old, she would be the only woman I looked at. The only one I ever could see myself with.... I didn't choose to love her, so why must I now suffer for a sin I didn't commit? The sin of falling in love...  
  
I should be happy for them, my brother and Ayame... Oh god even her name is painful for me to write... Who is so cold that they can turn their back on their own heart? Who??? She is everything to me, she is my world, and now I have to watch my best friend and her become on in name, heart and being... Why am I being punished..  
  
Never. I swear to all the Ki at once that I will never fall in love again. There is no point, it all only ends in pain... Oh gods help me get through this ceremony with my sanity intact.. I will never love another person again... Never...  
  
In any case I am going to see the oracle, I have already begun the fasting and making the other preparations... They say that only fools see him, well I have nothing left to loose and I would welcome death with open arms right now if he were here, so there is nothing he can say that can hurt me anymore...  
  
I guess, my dear journal, the one friend I have left, I would ask you for luck... I... I have.... I must... I got to put on the best facade I can, I won't ruin this for them, at least they can be happy... Dear gods please harden my heart...  
  
Raidou set his pen down and, slowly, closed his book. It was about nine in the morning and this was the first time he had to himself all day, since 5. They had been getting ready for his brother's big day, for their big day. Yet he still felt empty, cold. He had always confided in his brother, had always sought advice in him. Now he couldn't, what was he to say, ' I love the woman that your marrying. Sorry to tell you this on your wedding day, but I have loved her since before I can remember and what do you think I should do?' So he was left with his thoughts, allowing them to simmer and stew in his mind, slowly getting more and more pointed. He felt as though he wanted to laugh, cry, embrace his brother and kill him. That and the fact that he had been feeling this way since his brother and the woman he loved, for he dared not speak her name now, had fallen for each other didn't help things either. But now an idea that was a mere dream, a nightmare, had come to pass. It was as if he had sharpened the sword of his heart to a fine point, and now he fell on it.  
  
The day itself was beautiful. The perfect day for what everyone seemed to be calling the perfect wedding. There was a gentle breeze and the sun shone down, not in a harsh and brutal way, but in a gentle embrace. The very gods themselves seemed to be rejoicing at this marriage. The air had on it the sweet smell of flowers, freshly cut for the ceremony and a hint of food, just now being made. Outside he could hear the happiness of the others, as they laughed and talked about this and that. Indeed the very air seemed to carry with it an energy that seemed to come from the people.   
  
Of corse all of this only added to Raidou's suffering. The best idea of hell is having to look upon heaven, but never being allowed to entire into it, never being allowed to partake of the feast. He felt like a trader either way, for if he went through with his role, he betrayed and ripped out his own heart and if he tried to do something, he betrayed his brother and his heritage. So he sat in his 'room', the only one not partaking in the festivities, and he brooded.   
  
The room he was in, in contrast to the outside area, was dark and the air seemed stale and cold and lifeless. He had tried, best he could, to block the sun from his sight and to lock himself within the comfort of the dark, to forget about the outside. This proved useless because the sounds of happiness pored through the shut door and made it impossible to forget. HE sat on the edge of his sleeping pad, his book in his lap and his hands holding his face, and this was the position she found him in.  
  
" Raidou" This one word, this name, when spoken by her, even in her angelic and soft tone, seemed to mock him. It had a point sharper then any arrow he had ever been hit by and it pierced his very soul. For there before him, blinding him with her brilliance, stood his love. She was in the traditional wedding dress and she looked so beautiful. Painfully beautiful. His brother wasn't allowed to see her and he wasn't supposed to either, but she had sought him out, not visa versa.   
  
He tried to speak, but he couldn't find his voice. He tried to speak three times and finally, on the forth " You look... so beautiful." Even in this lighting, he knew she blushed. " What is it you want, my dear? You know you are not supposed to be gazed upon by any man until the ceremony..."  
  
" I came to ask you something, do you think that I am doing the right thing?"  
  
He rocked on the ground, trying to think of what to say. It was as if this moment was the embodiment of all the fears he had, this was the defining moment of his life. " You should... follow your heart..." An old cliche, a way to run, but a good one.  
  
" I love him, but I don't know... I just don't know if I am ready to spend the rest of eternity with him... Raidou, what should I do?" This last part she said with tears falling down her check. Her voice faltered and the noise that followed would have surely brought Lucifer to tears.   
  
Something happened to Raidou then, something he could never explain. He could have implanted the seeds of doubt here, discreetly, and been blameless if they took root and grew, he could say he was merely speaking what was in his heart. Yet even during the time his brain was concocting this new idea, his mouth opened and spoke, without him wanting it to... " You love him, you and he are no longer 2, your one. That is the beauty and horror of true love, 2 people willingly die, they kill themselves for each other, and, in their place raising from their ashes, comes a new and better being, a being of one heart and one soul. This ceremony is a mere representation of what has already happened to both of you. You love my brother, and you cannot find a better man then he, you know this is right, so follow it..." These word were the most pointed and painful words his ears had ever heard and his mouth had ever spoken. And as if that wasn't bad enough, she threw herself on him, in a warm embrace and thanked him, over and over, and cried tears of joy on his shoulder. Those tears would hurt more than anything else, more then the very fires of hell.   
  
  
  
In the end, the ceremony commenced and Raidou stood there, at his brother side. He managed to keep control of himself and accept his fate, albeit unfair, stoicly. He cried only once when she was reciting her vows to his brother, and the audience whispered among themselves, ' see what a good brother he is, he weeps with joy at their happiness,' for they did not understand....... 


	5. 5

Rated: R  
  
Disclamer: don't own, not mine  
  
Authors notes: Well, thank u all for the reviews... They truly mean a great deal... I really don't have much to say this time around.. I am going to try something new I guess, let me know what you think.... Thanks again for the reveiws and here we go.....  
  
( 12 years 7 months before ch.1)  
  
" So did you hear what Raidou did?"   
  
Raidou stood in the woods off to the left of the encampment. He was the devine heir to the throne of the shinobi. According to legend, a god was hurt during a fierce battle with a demon and Raidou's ancestor nursed him back to health. In return for this kindness he gave her three gifts. First he showed her a style of marshal arts that was unlike any before or since. Next he mated with the woman who had kept him and promised her son and her line to be the leaders. This was done with her consent. Finally he swore that, threw her, the entire world would be remade. In any case the weight of this burden rested almost solely on the shoulder of a now 11 year old Raidou and his younger brother.   
  
" They say that he can take on three fully trained warriors. They claim he is the incarnation of the god who blessed us."  
  
The price of his crown was heavy. He had no friends and almost no one to talk to. This was simply because none of them knew how to treat him. He was aloof, but he was aloof by default. HE had had no choice in his place and no choice in his path. It seemed to him that he was merely a wheel of some cart, only rolling where it was told to roll. How could he make them see this? His peers treated him with such an air of awe and respect that he was unapproachable. They all envied him, thye could not understand that this 'power' came with a price.   
  
" The claim he cured a sick man of his illness. I tell you the glory days of yore are not far. All hail Raidou, the chosen one, the usher of a new age."  
  
As for the elders, they paid his problems no heed, simply saying that they were part of growing. They had grown to old and to stupid to relate to the current youth. All they seemed to do was pile on more tasks for him to complete and more studies for him to do. This was the sickest party, in his mind, the harder he worked, the harder they made it. He would complete one scroll in a day and they would expect him to have 3 done the next day. He would practice for 14 hours and they would demand 18. He really had no escape.  
  
" The devine has come again. At last those who have forsaken us will be punished for their territory. The shinoni order will rise again."  
  
His parents were no help either. They were to occupied jamming his fate down his throat. In feudal japan they had been the alpha and the omega. The emperor would bow before their magistrate and pled with him for help. They were the knights of the old dynasty, the ultimate example of samara. They were the best of the best. Then Parry came and everything changed. In what seemed an instant, a mere flash, the May Jin (?) order was born. With it came democracy and the technologies of the west.  
  
" Nothing will stand in his way, he is the agent of destiny. He will lead our armies on and win conquest after conquest."  
  
  
  
So the once great shinobi, like the knights Templar, had been reduced to nothing more then legends. Stories of their exploits were dramatized and made into dime store fiction and video games. They were an echo, a cry from a dead era, a distant dream. The only way that they preserved their way of life was through their code of conduct. They cut ties with the outside world, for fear of corruption and, with the exception of a privileged few, never left the forest on which their camp was. This was fine by the outside, the small plot of land they held was basically worthless and every traveler who had ventured in had not returned.  
  
" What are you looking at?"  
  
Raidou's concentration was broken and his mind snapped back into the 'real' world. The sun had gone down about tow hours worth of time since he had begun to meditate on his life, or shame of one. His eyes adjusted to the light and he viewed his surroundings, as if for the first time. The light fell through the trees, leaving some spots dark and others light, giving the scene a dream like feel. The breeze blew, gently, and riding on it was the smell of the forest in spring. The leaves of the woods had just come back from the dead 2 weeks ago, but their were still some late bloomers lining their branches. He stood on a slight hill, next to a fallen log. Even though this tree had died, it still teemed with life. Indeed the very ground he stood on seemed alive and holy. This was what he liked best about the forest, this hope. The elders said that man was like a flower who bloomed many times and died many times. Raidou took some comfort in this, if nothing else.  
  
His tired eyes finally came to rest on the one who had spoken. She looked about his age, perhaps a bit younger, and was just now blooming herself. The traits that were make her 'beautiful' and 'radiant' were just now appearing as 'cute' and 'pretty.' She had the clearest blue eyes Raidou had ever seen and she had lavender hair down to her waist. She held an assortment of flowers in her left hand and wore a crown of them on her head. She wore a 'dress' like garment, which was obviously made at home and whose name had been lost in the years. She seemed genuinely cerous as to why he stood alone, in the deep forest.  
  
" Don't you know who I am?" He asked. There wasn't any hint of elitism in this statement, it was simply that the only one who seemed to talk with him so casually was his brother.  
  
" You're a little boy... Maybe your lost, I will bet that is it isn't it" She said, allowing a smile to form on her lips at this revelation.   
  
" One may say that" Raidou said.  
  
" If your lost, you should ask for help. That is what my mom always said" She said this innocently and would remain such threw the entire conversation.  
  
" And when if no one will help?"   
  
" Then you aren't asking the right question..." She said, simply.  
  
The wisdom within these statements were above her, but Raidou, the great scholar, found them extraordinary, to say the least. They remained quite for several seconds and the girl, obviously uncomfortable with this, said " My name is Ayame... What is yours?"  
  
" You really don't know who I am, do you?" she looked confused. He continued " Names make things much more complex then they need to be. Call me....." He wondered off, trying to think of something to say. Finally " call me friend" He felt that this was too forward of him. That word had never been uttered by him, except in reference to his brother and he immediately wished he could take it back. She seemed content with it.  
  
He spent the rest of the afternoon doing something he had never done before, he was a kid. He played tag and picked flowers and looked at clouds and all sorts of other stuff the elders didn't allow him to do, they said it was a waste of time. He had to know all he could about this girl.  
  
" Have you ever heard of Raidou?" He asked, trying to seem as matter of factly as possible.  
  
" Yes. He is the god man, right? My mom and dad always talk about him...everyone does. I heard that if you look at him, you go blind..." If she was suspicious, she wasn't showing it.  
  
"Who said this?"  
  
" My brother. I am not sure if he was teasing me or not, but I am to sacred to look. Whenever they have a ceremony involving him, I look away. I did look once, but I can't remember him at all... I feel bad for him though, it must be lonely, making it so that everyone who sees you goes blind..."  
  
" You have no idea..." Was all Raidou said.... 


	6. 6

Rated: R ( though I am not sure y...)  
  
Disclamer: don't own, not mine  
  
author's notes: Yea, I don't know what the deal was with five... that is just the way it came out, if that makes any sense to anyone.... For clarity, the portion before Ayame speaks can be viewed as a flash back of Raidou's or as the village gossip, after Ayame starts talking can be viewed as the present... I hope that helps... thanks for r and r and here we go....  
  
( 16 years 2 months before ch.1)  
  
The day was a beautiful one. IT should have been a day devoted to frolic and play. The sun shown down warmly on the earth, gently urging the flowers open from the previous night. The ground, still wen from dew, was producing a very enjoyable smell and all seemed right with the world. The birds were just now beginning to chatter away and do whatever it is birds do. It wasn't a fun day though.  
  
Raidou sat awake, alongside his father and several other villagers. His mother had been crying out in pain for the last 4 hours and no one had been able to sleep. He was not allowed to see his mother for reasons he did not understand. So he sat, with tired and worried eyes, staring off into emptiness. He was a mere child of 5, but he was already showing certain abilities that would later be the talk of legend. The man he would become seemed caste over hm, like a shadow, but unrealized yet. He was still just a boy.  
  
The men had sat around him and his father and had been saying kind and reassuring things to him all the early morning. His father's eyes had a look of tiredness and worry, but some other unrecognizable quality within them. It was something like joy. The rest of the men seemed content to simple be there, not really saying anything. In spite of this their presence still reassured Raidou, somehow.  
  
In the inner room a miracle was occurring. One that the men outside were only vaguely aware of. His mother was giving birth. This ability to bring new life into the world was unfathomable to all but those who had experienced it. In any case several women rushed this way and that way and that way, fetching this and that, at the instruction of the shaman, the only man allowed to be there. The room was dark and reeked of stale air and effort. There was no breeze and this only made the room feel hotter. It was dark and on regular but quickly decreasing intervals, was filled with Raidou's mother's screams.  
  
It was on one such a scream, a particularly bad one, that Raidou tried to extract information about what was occurring from is father. " Why is mom in pain?"  
  
" Your mother is in pain because of life.." Raidou's fathers voice seemed to have an annoyed and distant air, as if he had answered this question at least 100 times.   
  
" Life causes pain, why?"  
  
" It is simple the way of things..." Something happened here. Perhaps his father had an epiphany and realized that, unless he answered his son's questions, he would not stop. Perhaps he mere looked on his child, for the first time that morning, and was filled with a love that only a parent can have. But weather it be a change of mind or heart, his father began to speak. " Sometimes pain is necessary, it wakes us up.."  
  
" What does that mean?" Raidou had the tone of a voice that all 4 year olds have. His mind was just starting to understand what adults call real, but he was still unsure of himself. His voice would carry this way for the rest of their talk.  
  
" If I am happy, then would I ever change, son?" His father decided to try a diffrent approch.  
  
" No... No, right?"   
  
His father nodded in approval, then continued, " Is there any point to me being a part of this clan if I don't change? Or, if I don't do anything, am I helping anyone?"  
  
" Your not helping anyone..." Raidou answered his dad, still unsure where he was going.  
  
" Then why are you here?" his father asked simply.  
  
" I don't know..." Raidou was silent for several minutes, which almost worried his father. For his son was never quite for any given amount of time. Then he finally asked " So I am only worth something if I can do something?"  
  
Without thinking or even really hearing the question, dad answered " Yes"  
  
This set his mind in motion. He was quite for almost 30 minutes after that. He thought of things whose words would be lost to his memory, but whose power would influence his very soul. He decided, without realizing it, that if he could not be the best, there was no point in his living. His mind found ideas that he was still incapable of expressing with words, yet they were there. It was on that day he decided that the only true reality of the universe was power and that anyone who would try to take his meaning away would have to pay, dearly. Of corse his thinking was not nearly this well articulated or even understood by him, but the seeds of the future were laid that day. What would end, began that day.  
  
And it was as his thoughts began to reach an end that he heard something he had never heard before. Indeed the entire world had never before heard the unique cry that came from inside the room. The body to who the voice belonged was something the world had never known before and would never know again. His father allowed a huge grin to form across his lips and hit his son, lovingly. The other men all shook his father's hand and offered him their congratulations. A woman came out and siad it was a boy, whom the Shaman had named Shiden. After a few minutes Raidou and his father were invited into the small hut where the miracle had happened.   
  
"Come hear, my son and meet your brother." Raidou was given the strangest looking blanket he had ever seen and it was only after a small arm found it's way up threw the blanket that he began to realize what it was. He was filled with another emotion, one that he could not define. And he felt, for the first time in his life, contrast between his mind and his heart. And, at that moment, there was still hope...  
  
Afterthoughts: I just want ur thoughts on this one... I didn't like this ch. to much, just felt as though it wasn't up to par, but I have been told I am to harsh with myself.... am considering redoing it, though I am not sure how, tell me what u think... Thanx... 


	7. proluge

Epilogue ( or prolog)  
  
Rated: R  
  
Author's notes: Ahh the end... parting is such sweet sorrow, right?... In any case to all those who read this, thanks a lot, it is really great to get reviews... Well, let the end or beginning begin....  
  
Disclaimer: don't own, not mine  
  
( 0 hours 27 min. and 35 seconds before the start of the first DOA tournament)  
  
It was a dark and desolate time. A time where old orders were failing and new ones were raising. IT was a time of revolution and change. A time when progress would smash threw any obstacle that dared stand in it's way. A time of death and birth. The deal had been struck, and the new order was now merely a matter of time. The tournament would serve as the bate and the son of man would fall tonight. He would fall at the hands of an assassin who spoke with a Russian accent. The fall of man and the rise of mutants created by science was just now starting. And the new order was just dawning.  
  
It was on this stage that Raidou found himself. He was then first of a newer and better humanity, a humanity enhanced by nano technology. He had acquired what he had sought most from a man who may as well have been Satan. This 'gift' had come at a high price, for he had reveled the location of the shinobi's sanctuary and, as far as he knew, the names 2 people descended from his line. He was, of corse, the greatest marshal artiest the world had ever known. It seemed to many that he was a shoe in for this new tournament sponsored by Fame Dugless.   
  
It had been two years since his rape and subsequent exile from his home, but he didn't care. Change was the only constant, you could either be by it's side or under it's feat, so he thought. He had seen some people there and heard some names that he had not uttered for nearly 2 years. He knew of Digital Origin Alliance Tech ( DOA for short) plain and subsequent execution which resulted in the abduction of his brother's son. He also knew of the presence of his sister no doubt on a mission to find him. There was one unknown however and both he and DOA Tech kept coming back to it. It was the presence of one young girl with far to serous eyes and lavender hair. She was not the offspring of any of the shinobi that he had known nor did she show up in any modern system nor had she ever fought in a tournament besides this one. The other competitor's histories were know, but her's was shrouded in mystery.. She seemed to be a ghost.   
  
He stood in a room that had far to many refinements to reflect his taste. The room belonged to his new god, Donovan. It had books covering three of the 4 walls. On the 4th was the door to the outside area of the stadium and two paintings. The first was one entitled 'expulsion from Eden' the second was entitled ' resurrection.' Both of these held some religious significance but Raidou did not care enough to learn what they meant. The room had a desk and a few chair lay in a pattern typical of an office. The thing that struck Raidou was the lack of real sunlight. The only light that entered the room was from a bulb that was hidden below an ornate glass structure. Even with this the light seemed fake, it seemed cold and artificial and far to bright to be real. He stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, focusing on the task at hand.  
  
He was not the one who would kill Fame and usher in the new era. The link between him and Donovan would be to easy to find. So his only real job was to put on a good show until the assassin was ready to begin. It wasn't a shame of a tournament, the entries were real and some had come simply to take on the legend Raidou. It may as well have been though, Raidou was assured of his victory.  
  
It was in this mood, in this room and standing in the same way that she found him. She had snuck past the security, an easy task for someone of her skills and was about to fulfill one of her two goals. She had come to the tournament for two reasons, the first was that the elders had requested her to. She had come to 'discover' her half sister's reason for leaving. If the rules about leaving the clan had been harsh before Raidou had left, now they were downright ludicrous. It had come to a point where any reason, even saving your brother, was not enough. She would, of corse, kill her sister. The elders had sent her not because of her loyalty or long standing respect with the clan, they had sent her because of her power. She was the only one who could stop her sister. Now she saw her chance to avenge herself upon fate and to prove that she was more then a burden and a bastered child.   
  
The second reason was the one that she wouldn't admit to herself but which lingered, like the faint smell of goods baked long ago, was why she stood outside this door. She wanted to look upon the face of the man who had caused her to exist. It was because of him that Ayame was dead, for if he hadn't raped her, then she would not have died during child birth. Ayame's third child was alone in a society where birth meant everything. She was the spawn of a fallen god. She wasn't sure why she wanted to meet him, nor did she know what she hoped to gain, but a part of her seemed inexorable drawn to that location, as fish are guided inexorable to the sea.  
  
She took a breath and opened the door. He seemed to be in a trance like state, but as soon as he knew she didn't belong, he prepared himself for a battle. They gazed upon each other and Raidou felt some strange kinship to this girl.   
  
" Who are you and what do you want. Speak quickly for I have no qualms about killing you now, as opposed to in the ring..." Raidou said, in the same lifeless and empty voice that he now always spoke with.  
  
" I am.... I am your daughter... Ayane" She said. She did her best to remain stoic, but the word 'daughter' seemed to bear out a part of her soul.  
  
Raidou's only response was laughter. Unlike most laughter, this seemed wrong and out of place. It was as strange as a storm finding sympathy or a earthquake remorse. Nothing else about him changed, not even his eyes and it seemed that the sound must have been coming from another place. But the movement of his lips confirmed that it was he who produced the horrid sound. At last his inhuman laughter subsided and he gazed upon her. " That is not possible, I have no children... And if I did they would not be as weak or pathetic as you are..."  
  
" How dare you... You have never even fought me, how can you call me weak.... you arrogant..." Her tone steadily increased. No one had called her a weak or any other name ever since she had come to the point where she could kill them. Indeed she had always moved about the village with people loathing her, but in more modern times she when she moved they viewed her with something new, fear. This was the first time she had been taunted since her childhood, when she was too weak to stand up for herself, and she would have killed any other person where he stood. She couldn't kill him yet though, for with him rested the secret to her past.  
  
He interrupted her words and thoughts with this " Dada will come and help you" He said this phrase not with the love that children are accustomed to hearing such things with, but with spite and loathing. Each letter seemed to drip with pure hate. This was the first time that Raidou had felt something within himself. And he felt this because, contained in her delict features, he saw himself, and he hated that image of who he had once been most of all. She seemed, to him, the embodiment of another possible outcome, a representation of what may have been. And he hated it.  
  
She could not contain her rage anymore, and she charged Raidou. He avoided her blow, with ease and as he held her on the ground, her arm behind her back, in a position in which she couldn't move, he whispered ' I can kill you any time I want, little girl, remember that well. You have a choice, either you die now, or you face the one whom you hate more then me. You face your sister. If you beat her then you will have a shot at me, but not until then. So what will it be, death or killing?"   
  
She did not answer. And it was at that moment that something happened to him. There was a movement in what had once been still and a voice in that which had once been emptiness. He looked upon her and felt something he could not explain. Of corse it wasn't enough to stop him from doing what he had set out to do, nor would it have stopped him from killing her, but it was enough to offer some semblance of hope. This moment was short lived as he let her back up  
  
In the end Fame was killed and a new order was begun. Raidou was killed by Kasumi and Ayane, humiliated, returned empty handed to the village, hating her sister even more. Raidou never got a chance to tell Donovan that a third child that carried his genes existed and, as far as Donovan was concerned the purple haired girl was just a ghost. This is why, even today, there is still hope. There was on variable that DOA tech had never counted on, but that is a tale for another day... 


End file.
